Albus Severus and the Resurrection Stone
by Alyssa316
Summary: Albus and James Potter stumble across the Resurrection Stone, and meet some of the fallen heroes of The Battle of Hogwarts.


"Al."

"Al, wake up."

The little boy groaned and rolled over. He opened his bright green eyes and looked at his older brother.

"Are you serious? James, it's not even light outside yet."

The older brother smirked and rolled his eyes. "Sirius is my middle name."

Albus Severus sighed in annoyance. He might have found the joke funny if it wasn't two in the morning. "What do you want?" he mumbled.

"Come on, get up!"

"Why?"

"Just do it. I have something I want to show you."

"Can't it just wait till morning?"

"No."

The 'no' was said with such a finality that Albus realized that his brother wouldn't go away until he came to see whatever he wanted to show him. Albus rolled out of bed and put on some clothes. James watched him excitedly, as if he just couldn't wait to show him this.

"I've been waiting two years to show you!" James was practically bouncing off the walls at this point, and Albus just couldn't figure out what was this exciting at such an early hour, and more importantly, why it couldn't wait until morning. Nevertheless, he followed James out of the Gryffindor common room and into the hallway, stealthy creeping underneath their father's Invisibility Cloak.

Albus couldn't help but wonder where they were going as they crept out of the castle and out on the grounds. He first assumed they would be going to Hagrid's, after all, they visited him a lot, but James walked right past his wooden hut and, suddenly, Albus realized where they were going.

He stopped in his tracks.

"The Forbidden Forest," he whispered.

"You got it, brother."

"But..." Albus tried to think of a reason strong enough to convince James to turn around, but he couldn't. He settled for asking, "Aren't there beasts in there?"

James laughed. "Of course, but they're not dangerous. The twins said they encountered them once and they were actually really friendly."

The twins, Lorcan and Lysander Scamander, were very nice, but it didn't make Albus feel any safer about going into the forest. He distinctly remembered the time the twins wanted to meet some thestrals, and had wound up getting them all lost in the woods.

Luckily, that time, Albus's dad and the twins' mom, Luna, were able to find them before anything happened. This time, however, James and Albus were on their own. There was no way their parents would be there to rescue them this time.

They entered the Forbidden Forest, and to be honest, it wasn't as bad as he thought. They continued walking, deeper and deeper, until James abruptly stopped. Albus was worried they were lost until James said, "It should be right around here..."

Carefully, James took the Cloak off and stuffed it back in his pocket. To Albus's confusion, James got down on his hands and knees and began searching for something.

After about five minutes, James shouted "Aha!" and jumped up. "Look!"

In his palm he had a small stone with an odd engraving: a circle in a triangle, and right down the middle of the stone, was a straight crack.

Even though there was no doubt it looked pretty awesome, Albus still remained unimpressed. He said, "You woke me up just to show me a rock?"

James winked. "Not just any rock. Look, Al." He gently turned the stone a few times in his hand.

Albus jumped. Behind and beside him, he heard rustling like something - someone - was creeping up to them.

He looked at James and was about to ask whether they should run for it, but the question died in his throat. James, oddly enough, didn't looked worried at all. In fact, he seemed to be welcoming whatever was coming towards them. Albus nervously looked toward the noise, not sure what he was expecting to see, and was surprised to see three people. Perhaps people wasn't the right word. Spirits, maybe.

Albus stepped forward in awe. James followed.

The first to speak was a red haired young man, who smirked as he saw the brothers. "Hey James, who's your friend?"

A second sprit, a young, tall, and handsome man, laughed. "Fred, isn't it obvious?" Then he turned toward Albus. "You must be another child of Harry's." His smile was so bright, so real, Albus knew that this man must have known his dad well.

Albus nodded, too stunned to say anything else.

The third sprit stepped forward carefully, and his brown eyes feasted on the boy. He beamed proudly. "You're my grandson, then."

Had he not said that, Or had Albus not noticed that the man's eyes were brown, he would have called this man 'dad.' He had the same hair, same smile, and were even the same height.

James glanced at Albus, then went to go talk to the red-haired man (Fred?) and the other man.

Albus, however, remained transfixed, staring at the other man. He was at a loss of words. He was the first true relative Albus had ever met.

Finally, he was able to put a sentence together. "I wish you could come home to see my family." It sounded stupid, even to his own ears, and he expected his grandfather to laugh.

Instead of laughing, though, the man smiled sadly. "Me too."

Albus was about to ask him something else when James cantered over. "Hey Al, the others want to meet you too."

James led Albus and their grandfather to be other two.

James introduced Albus to them. "Okay, this is my brother Albus. Albus, meet Fred," he indicated the redhead, "and Sirius," he pointed to the tall man.

Albus immediately recognized both of the names. "You guys are my uncles, right?"

He remembered one night, the first night James was away at Hogwarts, he asked his dad to tell him a bedtime story. His father told him an outrageous story of how his uncles Fred and George once gave him a magical map of Hogwarts, and how he and his friends had used it to save Uncle Remus and Uncle Sirius. Albus had never thought much of it until now, but now he wondered if these people were the characters and, perhaps, none of it was made up at all.

Then Albus asked Fred as an afterthought, "I have a cousin named Fred. Was he named after you?"

Fred looked confused. "Who are his parents?"

"Uncle George and Aunt Angelina."

Fred thought for a moment. "I guess he would be named after me. George is my brother and I was very good friends with Angelina."

"Cool," Albus said. Then he directed his attention to third sprit. He beamed.

"Uncle Sirius, my dad talks about you all the time. He says you were basically his brother."

If Sirius's grin could get any wider, it did. "Does he, now?" He laughed. "Has he told you about the time he, your mom, a few of my friends, and I nearly destroyed the Ministry?"

Albus's face lit up. "Oh, no, he hasn't! Please, Uncle Sirius, tell us!"

He laughed. "All right. Well...it all begins! I believe, with the time your father and his friends flew on thestrals from Hogwarts to the Ministry of Magic..."

Sirius would have continued his story, but James came running towards them and interrupted. "Al, we have to go!"

"Just a few more minutes!"

"It's almost time for everyone to get up! Professor Longbottom is going to murder us if he finds out we've been out of bed again!"

Albus frowned, but slowly turned around to face his brother. James waved goodbye to Fred, Sirius, and their grandfather, then dropped the stone.

He faced Albus. "We'll come back another day, okay?"

Albus's next day was a blur. The day dragged on, and all he could think about was the stone and his relatives. He yearned so badly to see them again. Even though he had only met them a day ago, they already felt so close to family, and he couldn't imagine life without them.

That night, he convinced James to let him borrow the Invisibility Cloak. He didn't tell him why.

When everyone had gone to bed, Albus slipped out off the dormitories and ran out of the castle. He couldn't wait another second. He raced past Hagrid's hut and into the forest.

When he reached the location where the spirits were last night, he frantically searched for the stone James had shown him. He didn't see it anywhere. Panicking, Albus began hitting the ground repeatedly, searching for any sign of a rock.

Finally, his hand hit something cold and hard. He grasped it in his hand and sighed in relief. It was the stone!

Remembering what James did the night before, Albus turned it three times in his hand. Just as last night, he heard rustling around him. He called out, "Uncle Sirius! Can you finish the story?"

Instead of hearing Sirius, though, Albus heard someone snort behind him. An unfamiliar man with shoulder length black hair and a permanent sneer was looking at him.

Albus jumped back in alarm. "I'm sorry, sir! I was just looking for someone! I didn't mean to disturb you!"

The man continued glaring at Albus, and he felt like shrinking away in fear. This spirit scared him.

The man began to mock him. "'Uncle Sirius! Where are you? I need my bedtime story!' Look at me, boy, what is your name? You must be one of Potter's kids."

He said 'Potter' with so much contempt Albus knew he must have knew his family, and by the sound of it, really disliked them. But he mustered enough courage to answer him.

"Sir, my name is Albus Severus Potter. I'm the youngest son of Harry and Ginny Potter. I didn't mean to bother you, I promise. I was only looking for someone my brother showed me last night."

When he said his name, all of the contempt in the spirit's eyes vanished. He studied the boy in a new light.

"Your name is Albus Severus?" His voice was different now, much more kind towards the boy.

"Yes sir. My father said he named me after the two best headmasters Hogwarts ever had."

The spirit's pale face flushed with color. "My dear boy, I knew Albus very well. He was a brilliant headmaster and I had always wanted to be as good of a leader as he. I suppose someone thought I did well at Hogwarts. I never thought it would be your father though..."

Albus tried to put together what he had just heard. "But..." He thought for a moment. "Does that mean that your name is Severus?"

"Much smarter than your father, I must say. He could have sat here all night thinking about what I said and never would have figured it out. But yes, Albus, my name is Severus. Severus Snape, former Potions master, head of Slytherin house, and headmaster of Hogwarts."

"You were in Slytherin?"

Professor Snape's face suddenly became much more guarded and defensive. "Has your father been saying things about the Slytherin house?"

"Oh, no sir, not at all. He told me he would be proud if I got put into Slytherin. In fact, he said you were the bravest man he ever knew."

"Really, now?" He paused, like he didn't know what to say. Then he said, "You have your grandmother's eyes."

And with that, Professor Snape turned on his heels and walked away, his black robes billowing behind him.

Suddenly two more spirits came up to Albus. One was a tall and thin old man with long white hair, and the other a young man of about twenty-five. Even though he was young, his hair was already turning grey and his face looked tired, like he had experienced many hardships in life.

The old man was the first to speak. "Hello, Albus. I knew you would be coming."

Albus was shocked that the man knew his name, and even more surprised that he knew he would come to see them.

"You knew, sir?"

"Please, call me Albus. It is my name too, you know."

"You are Professor Dumbledore? Dad has told me how great you were. He liked you very much."

"I am honored, dear Albus. And I knew you would come after I had discovered that you found Misters Black, Weasley, and Potter last night. You act much like me, I'm afraid. It is my nature, or man's nature on the whole, to learn all they can about their family. They feel that it grounds them to the mortal world." He smiled at Albus, and even though Albus didn't understand half of what he said, he knew this man cared about him deeply. He smiled back.

The younger man looked at Professor Dumbledore. "Professor, may I speak to the boy?"

"Certainly, Remus. Be my guest."

Albus couldn't help but to interject. "Uncle Remus! I hear stories about you all the time!"

Remus laughed. "I hope your parents haven't glorified me. I didn't do anything worth talking about."

"Yes, you did! You taught my dad the Patronus charm! He saved many lives with it! And you were a brave member of the Order of the Phoenix, right?"

He smiled. "I don't know about brave, but I will say I was in the Order and taught your dad the Patronus charm. But it was your dad who saved those lives, not me."

Remus hesitated. "Can I ask you a question?" he said tentatively.

"Sure, Uncle Remus! You can ask me anything!"

He smiled. "It's okay if you don't know the answer, but how is my son doing?"

"Oh, Teddy? He's great! He come and visits us when we're at home all the time, and I think he's getting married in a year or so."

Remus looked shocked. "Married? To whom?"

"Viktorie Weasley. Uncle Bill and Aunt Fleur's daughter."

"Thank you, Albus." Remus's face broke into a huge grin. "Dora will be delighted to know."

Professor Dumbledore cleared his throat. "I hate to be the bringer of bad news, but I believe, Albus, that the sun will be rising soon. I would strongly suggest going back to your dormitory before you are caught."

Albus didn't want to go, but he knew it was for the best. "Goodbye, Uncle Remus snd Professor Dumbledore. I hope to see you again soon."

"Not too soon, though, okay?" Professor Dumbledore asked. "I once told your father this statement, and I think you should think about it too. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live. Goodbye, Albus. I expect I will see you again sometime."

Albus smiled and nodded. He was about to drop the stone when he remembered Professor Snape. "All the best, Professor Snape. You really are as great as my father said."

With that, Albus dropped the stone. For some reason, he was so overcome with emotion that he stooped to the ground and began to cry. He didn't know how long he sat there, thinking and sobbing, when he heard someone come up behind him. It was still dark outside, and he considered running for it, but when the voice spoke he recognized it.

"Come, Albus, let's get you back to bed."

Professor Longbottom led him back to the castle and up to the Gryffindor common room.

Albus stopped crying and looked up at him. "Thank you, Headmaster."

"No problem, Albus. Let me know if you need anything. I'll let your teachers know you need a day off."

"Sir, I'm okay. I can go to my classes."

The headmaster looked at Albus and smiled. "I must insist, Albus. I have learned from personal experience that when one experiences something that changes their perspective on life, he should take a day off to think."

With that, he patted Albus on the shoulder and walked away, leaving Albus to think about what he had just heard.


End file.
